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I wanted a fancy dancy high speed blender for two years, but I could never commit. I couldn’t figure out the difference between the main two competitors, and I couldn’t quite stomach the cost.

I solidly expected the Blendtec and Vitamix to be doggone similar in function and performance, so when a local blog colleague told me her opinion was otherwise, I had to make a side-by-side test happen.

I’ve been excited to share this video since last week! (Part three of the review, by the way, will tell you what happened when I made nut butter and flour – I decided to split what was going to be part two into two posts because it got so long.)

The Twister jar of the Blendtec, which is intended for recipes like this one, made a creamy coco-sunbutter too, in about 35-40 seconds, but we could only make 1/3 of the recipe at a time because it’s so much smaller. In my opinion, that = fail.

I wanted to try the regular Blendtec WildSide jar, since I felt like that compared apples to apples pricewise. We put the full recipe in the Blendtec…and it stopped after 30 seconds and said “Overload.” I’d never seen that before!

Things I’ve Learned Since the First Review Post

The reason the Blendtec and Vitamix are both plastic is that glass would break under the power of the motor. Old Vitamixes are made of stainless steel, which would be preferable in some ways, to me, but it would be odd not being able to see the contents of my blender.

One can push any button to make the Blendtec stop, not just pulse…which is probably what a frantic rookie would be doing to try to make it stop when they couldn’t find the “stop” button, so that works out well. I still think it’s dumb that there’s no stop button, and our video demonstrates how counter-intuitive it is perfectly: My friend is trying to get the blender to turn off, and she looks around for a minute then jabs at the “level down” button, which takes a few seconds to come down from level 7. We had already discussed the “pulse for stop” ridiculousness, which reinforces just how backward it is.

Some people recommend using the “whole juice” button for smoothies instead of the smoothies button. I tried it today, and I have to admit, it did a good job!

I hope I wasn’t too hard on the poor Blendtec in the first part of my review. It’s a cool machine, and it does some amazing things with whole vegetables, frozen fruit and whole grains.

My bottom line is that, for the price, a high-powered blender should truly knock your socks off. For me, that didn’t happen. My feet would get too cold anyway.

I’m sure I should branch out and try some more new recipes and techniques that really do require a high-powered blender for success. I’m sure there are many things my old blender couldn’t handle that are perfect for my Blendtec. I didn’t go nuts in the “new things” department, even though I’ve had the blender for a few months. Life gets away, you know?

How the Vitamix is Likely the Same as the Blendtec

I listed quite a number of features that were on my “negative” list when I reviewed the Blendtec. I think the Vitamix would have some of the same, including:

Very, very loud.

You can’t take it apart to wash it. Yes you can! See comments for more…

Not recommended for the dishwasher. (Vitamix is okay in the dishwasher, but you’re not supposed to use it often, I guess. See comments for more from VM owners.)

Made of plastic.

It always looks dirty. (The cleaning instructions are the same.)

It can’t actually replace my food processor.

The Vitamix DOES have a pour spout and a stop button, so it wins there. From what I understand, in order to grind grains, you have to buy a separate “dry” container for the Vitamix. (But if you want to, the regular “wet” container actually grinds grains well too – see comments for great wisdome!) The Blendtec main container does grains, but it can’t do nut butter or bean spreads.

So…if you only have the funds for one container (the extras run $80-120), you’ll have to decide what you need the high-powered blender for more.

About Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

I’m a Catholic wife and mother of four who wants the best of nutrition and living for her family. I believe that God calls us to be good stewards of all His gifts as we work to feed our families: time, finances, the good green earth, and of course, our healthy bodies. I'm the founder and boss lady here at Kitchen Stewardship -- welcome aboard!

And what’s even better than a Vitamix OR Blendtec?: A $20 vintage Osterizer on ebay. They are built like tanks and have nearly 1000 watt motors. And if you’re grossed out by the thought of a “used blender” from the 1970’s, just spend an extra $5 for a brand new Oster blade and another $10 for a brand new Oster glass pitcher (both easily found on Amazon or Ebay). That’s less that 40 bucks total for something that will EQUAL the performance of a $400 Vitamix! I guarantee it!
Shhh… It’s our little secret.

Interesting question about “needing” a high speed blender. I tried this recipe today: http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2012/03/gluten-free-flatbread-recipe-made-from.html and She recommends using a high speed blender but says you can use your food processor. Well, my bread doesn’t look ANY thing like that and still has bits of rice/millet in it. I also can’t make the chia pudding recipes that are circulating online. I’m still convinced that those recipes are worth the $ to buy one of those blenders but if we keep eating this way, I might be more and more tempted. Especially since grinding things in the coffee grinder is getting a little old.

Beth,
Now I’ve made that recipe many, many times in my $7 blender – we LOVE that bread! The key is to blend about 3 minutes, in segments if need be. I think a blender is more suited for the batter, which is liquidy, than a food processor. I have a feeling my food processor would make a mess of it. But yes – those little seedy things, flax and chia, really do need a bit more power. Katie

Oops. *Not* convinced.
Anyway, what type of rice exactly do you use??? I was SOOOO disappointed that this didn’t work out for me. I used just plain old brown rice–I thought the package said long grain. It did not say Basmati or Jasmine. Did I use the wrong kind? I’m not up on my different kinds of rice. I’ll have to haul my Blender out next time too–it’s in the basement.

Beth – Plain old brown rice here, too. ?? I did have to blend like crazy – set the timer for 2-3 minutes, but it worked great. Maybe I lucked out and got a cheap blender with super sharp blades or something. I bet your blender can handle it too – food processors just don’t do all that well with all that liquid in their way. Katie

Too funny! Nah…I don’t think I’d spend $550 on it, but for the 35% or whatever I have to pay in taxes, I think I’ll hang onto it. There are still some things, as you’ll see in part 3, that I really can’t do without this machine. Katie

Your Blendtec reviews have been so helpful to me because I have a Vitamix and always wondered how it compared. A couple of things about the Vitamix – the blade actually does come out. I found this out when I broke my container last month and they sent me a new one (for free, yay for wonderful warranties!), along with a small plastic tool that helps you loosen the blade, and then tighten it back up. The container is dishwasher safe, they just recommended that I not do it too often as it can make the plastic cloudy. Which brings me to the whole thing about it always looking dirty. A cup of vinegar soaked in the container full of water helps that film go away. It is very loud but my only complaint is that it doesn’t take the place of a food processor But, I use my Vitamix at least once a day and would buy it again in a heartbeat!

The problem I had when I put my vitamix in the dishwasher is that water got inside the blade housing. It finally drained/evaporated after about 6 months, but I was afraid to do it again. I’m not always confident the blender is getting clean with the hot water/dish soap method. Thanks for the tip about the vinegar!

As far as needing a high power blender, I guess it depends how much you already have and what you want to do. We wanted to be able to grind our own flours and nut butters, make smoothies, and make fresh butter. We had a crappy blender that did nothing for us and not much else. When I saw the price of a good grain mill, we decided it would be worth it to invest in the Vitamix with the dry blade container. Love it, and hands down the best kitchen purchase I have made!

I have two Vitamixes, both with the stainless steel containers – one I bought, one was given to me. I didn’t buy any extra attachments and had no problem grinding grains. I just had to run them through a strainer to remove the residual pieces that didn’t get ground up. I never mastered the frozen desserts or nut butters, but it did great on the whole juice and soups.

My big complaint is that the blade breaks often. The first time was right after my warranty expired. Then the replacement blade broke again a number of years later. Both Vitamixes now have broken blades and I refuse to spend $50 + S&H to replace a blade every few years.

I have an Osterizer blender that I bought for $30 with a glass container a number of years ago after the last Vitamix expired. I love it. Among my Osterizer blender and my Cuisinart food processor and ice cream maker, I have everything I need to prepare my foods at a fraction of the cost.

We love our Vitamix, I bought it to grind my own wheat. We love that it makes soup and smoothies! I also use it for hummus and powdered sugar. I have not purchased wheat or powdered sugar in years because of our Vitamix. I also use it for whipping cream. I grind a lot of rice for a friend who is wheat intolerant, its so much cheaper and fresh than buying it in the stores. I appreciate that I have a 7 year warranty and don’t have to worry about it breaking – prior to our Vitamix I burned out 3 blenders from Costco. I also love making homemade peanut butter – which is what I ruined one of the 3 blenders making… oops!

Prior to buying my Vitamix I had a Ninja I bought at Sam’s Club. I couldn’t stomach green smoothies with it — too many chunks. I finally splurged on the Vitamix when I learned about the dry blade for grains. I use it instead of a grain mill and I can slurp down green smoothies no problem! I also make a Thai peanut sauce for my daughter in the Vitamix, just dumping all the ingredients into the container, including chunks of ginger, and it’s delicious. I use it almost every day and it’s out permanently on my counter.

Katie, Thanks for doing this review. I’ve always wanted a high powered blender and wasn’t sure which one to choose. My wonderful mother told me she would buy me one as a combo birthday/Christmas gift. So I now have a Vita-Mix under the tree to open Christmas morning. Sounds like I made the right choice. I was a little concerned, but I’m now glad I chose the Vita-Mix

Part 3 is what I really need. The lid to my cheapo blender is lost (really?) and it’s not that great anyway, so I’m thinking of replacing it, but I’m not sure if I should go with a good quality regular blender, or spring for the Vitamix. I have a food processor, but I don’t use it as often as I could probably.

I received a Vitamix for a wedding gift (a much requested gift, mind you) and didn’t bother asking for the extra container to grind grains because it was already a rather expensive gift. The giver did end up getting herself a Vitamix and dry container though. The other day I was looking for a recipe for buckwheat pancakes, and stumbled upon someone saying buckwheat flour is often stale – grind your own. So I bit the bullet and decided to try some in my wet-blade container. I froze some whole buckwheat to use later that day, since the Vitamix manual recommends grinding frozen grain. Less than thirty seconds in the blender, and I had buckwheat flour. I’d say you don’t need the dry container.

I can’t find anything about the blade wearing out faster, but that could be true – the manual just says that the wet blade is less efficient. And yeah, the warranty is terrific – they’ll just replace it, so I’m not too worried :).

I have, and LOVE, a Vitamix! I also have a grain mill, so I don’t need to grind grains but I do grind flax seeds in my regular Vitamix container and it works perfectly.
While house-sitting, I’ve had opportunities to use a Blendtec and a Ninja system and while they were both fine, I am always glad to return home to my Vitamix. I agree completely with Kim Kauffman: I wish it would replace my food processor, too, but I use it at least once a day and would happily buy it again!

I was a little nervous to watch this video as I have a Vitamix. I love it, and recommend it to my patients, but wish it could be taken apart. I wondered if I made a bad choice when I saw this post. What a relief that I bought the better blender Thanks for the review…

I have and love a Vita Mix. My MIL has one that is stainless. She got us ours a couple of years ago. I wasn’t sure that we would use it much. Boy was I wrong. We use it for pancakes, salsa, etc. I do have the dry grain canister for my wheat and corn. I LOVE IT!!!! It is a bit loud, but I haven’t seen or heard of a grain mill that is quiet (even the whisper mill). I made refired beans in it last night. I probably average 1.5 uses a day. You can chop veggies in it much like a food processor, though you can’t do slices. My kids love it when we make ice cream in it. I find it to be far more useful than I ever imagined. We probably use it 20 times more than we ever used our regular blender (Hamilton Beach if I remember correctly).

When we were researching the purchase of the Vitamix, my friend came upon a few youtube videos of the VM wetblade vs. dryblade. Not wanting to spend any extra money, we were very pleased to see the videos were right – the wetblade gives flour from any grains or nuts no problem at all. There are 3 things to watch out for, though, 1. (According to the demonstrator, when I asked) the plastic will get scratched with the grains due to the different ‘action’ of the wetblade and dryblade – I haven’t noticed this at all, however, could just be marketing spiel. 2. I have to be very careful with nut meals, as the mix will quickly turn flour into butter! 3. It doesn’t do a good job if you don’t have enough (eg coffee beans) in the container.

Vikki,
I recently learned that lesson with the Blendtec and flaxseed, so I’m guessing the same is true for many things – on 1/2 cup flax, it was a mess. Horrible performance. On 2 cups flax = awesomeness. Go figure. I’ll hit that in the third and final post! Katie

I LOVE my Vitamix. We use it for smoothies – better than a regular blender if you use greens – also soups, pancake batter, muffin batter, sorbet…. My kids make fruit sorbet all the time in the Vitamix. I’ll bet I would like the Blentec also. From what I can tell, people love whichever one they have. The Vitamix contains instructions for “chopping” things such as onions, but I prefer my food processor for chopping, slicing and grating large quantities. I don’t think one can replace the other (blender vs. food processor). I appreciate that you are comparing them – nice to have an awareness of the subtle differences.
FYI – do not over blend potato soup — it gets very starchy – yuck.

I have followed your latest reviews with great interest. I have a high-powered blender for a slightly different reason.

I have a daughter who experienced a severe stroke as an infant and had to have a feeding tube surgically placed. Doctors did not think she would ever be able to eat orally again. After pumping my milk for several months, the doctors started talking about how my milk was no longer “nutritionally complete” and started suggesting various formulas. We politely declined and slowly started introducing “solids” through her tube. She is now 7 and weaned mostly from her tube at 5 1/2. She still occasionally needs a supplement but eats most of what she needs. The point of all of this nackground is to share with you that thanks to our vita-mix, she has *never* experienced commercial formula. We burned out a blender early in our tube journey after we stopped using jarred baby foods and tried less processed foods. We subsequently bought a vita-mix and life has been easier for us. One pitcher now feeds her for several days, but when she was strictly tube-fed it would last about 1 1/2 days. We would throw everything we normally ate in there along with some healthy oils and other things she may need (liver, supplements) and she had a more whole food diet than the rest of us. She loved to help make her food as a toddler and it was a wonderful way to normalize things for her.

We belong to a wonderful community of “tubies” who blend their own food. Many dietitians have tried to dissuade us and others because it “more difficult to ascertain proper nutrient counts”, but we all now how to use sites like nutritiondata.com and nobody would argue that healthy adults should eat carnation instant breakfast all day every day simply because it is easier. Everyone deserves real food if possible and our vita mix has made that possible for every member of our family.

Without this blender, real food would clog her tube and be more difficult to digest. She would be relegated to juices without all the good stuff that whole grains and fiber have to offer. We have given her hamburgers (home made, of course), roasts, nuts, seeds, grains, veggies of all kinds and herbs through her tube.

Both Vita-mix and Blendtec now offer a medical discount program for families in need on refurbished machines. And there are a few dietitians leading the charge for real food, but mostly it has been us parents; advocating for our kids. Anyone can find us by googling “blenderized food for tubies”. And thanks for helping us keep our kitchens a place for health building and family togetherness.

Karin,
LOVE. Thank you so much for sharing this perspective! Your story will definitely make my “do you really need a high-powered blender” follow-up post! And good for you to advocate for real food for your child! Awesome, Momma! Katie

I also blenderize with for a tubie.
It is a LOT of extra work, but WELL WORTH the effort, isn’t it !
We are actually in the process of weaning.
The nutritionist has commented to me how easily she has taken to “real food.” And my answer is? Why not ? She has been eating it all along
((((HUGS))))) to a fellow tubie momma !

I, too, watched YouTube videos on the Blendtec and Vitamix, and I found a lot of my questions weren’t answered. So I ended up buying both units. Sorry if this post is too long, but this is what I wanted to know.

I first ordered the Blendtec when it came out. http://www.rawfoodworld.com was offering a big discount on it. It took me a few months to finally use it (I shipped it to my new location before I had a chance to use it).

Pros: The blender carafe is wide at the blade end, so it’s easier to scoop out things like nut butters. It’s powerful. It’s easier to clean than the Vitamix because it doesn’t have the same carafe design of indentations in the carafe. Hard to explain, but there are more areas for food to stick to, but it also is probably for better swirling.

Cons:
– I never got the hang of all of those buttons and up and down arrows.

– I wanted a cycle where I could make smoothies with the top off. I like to add all sorts of powders while the blender is running. Non-high-powered blenders were never an issue. With the Blendtec, I’d better have the top on securely because every cycle starts with a jolt of the contents being propelled upwards with force. I called Blendtec on this and asked, “Can’t there be one cycle that just turns on the blender with the contents gently moving around the center instead of being propelled up?” Seems the owner/designer likes it the way it is. Lovely Customer Service people though. It was interesting to watch your video, Katie, to see that the nut butter you were making didn’t seem to be propelled up. I would have thought making the nut butter in the Blendtec would be a breeze and wouldn’t need that fancier carafe.
– I also didn’t like the buttons that were counter-intuitive. I just wanted to press a button and have my food be blended. I found this the most frustrating of all.

The Raw Food World had a great return policy, so I sent back the unit.

I then bought a Vitamix from Vitamix. For a great price, they threw in three free plastic cutting boards and three free rounded spatulas. Nothing fancy but it’s still a gift. They also gave me a great price on the dry carafe, which no one has mentioned isn’t as big as the wet carafe. Ruth, thanks for mentioning that the manual says to freeze grains before grinding; I missed that part. I can attest that both the wet and dry carafes grind grains. I haven’t tried grains or beans.

I made tahini in my wet carafe today and it came out great. I’ve done it a few times and never had the motor conk out on me.

I also didn’t like the idea of a tamper – one more item to find space for – but it really comes in handy. I like it for frozen desserts (put some peeled frozen pineapple and a peeled frozen very ripe banana in the Vitamix. Plunge away and you have yummy soft-serve ice cream in about one minute.

One negative about the Vitamix is scooping out the last bits of food around the blades. The bottom of my carafe is narrow, and there isn’t a lot of clearance around the very sharp blades. I’m losing a lot of spatulas trying to get to that food. I don’t want to waste it (I sometimes will make a smoothie after making nut butter so I don’t waste). Even the rounded plastic spatulas Vitamix sent me don’t do the trick. I didn’t think to try to unscrew the blades, but that would get annoying to have to do often.

The Vitamix is harder to clean because of the way the carafe is designed. If you look down into the carafe – both wet and dry – you’ll see they aren’t round or square; I don’t find that I can use a spatula to easily glide out the contents of the buzzed food. There are lots of angles on these carafes, but that matters more with the wet carafe. I prefer the Blendtec design. But both are easy to clean by adding some water and soap and buzzing on high for a minute (be sure to have the top on securely!!!)

The cookbook that comes with the Vitamix is a thick three-ring notebook with lots of gorgeous photos of many of the recipes. The recipes are very nice too.

The Vitamix is harder to store because, at least with the model I have from last year, the carafe is too tall to sit on the base and fit on my counter under the upper cabinet; the Blendtec does fit.

The Vitamix and plunger will buzz ice.

Personally, I’d like to have both because they are both great machines. However, for my needs – buzzing ice cream to churn in an ice cream maker, making smoothies with greens added, nut butters (my Breville food processor doesn’t do this as well as my Vitamix), frozen fruit desserts, the Vitamix is a better choice.

I, too, wondered if a high-speed blender was really something I needed. I had used a Vitamix before and was impressed by it. I like the versatility that there is nothing that I cannot make. I justify the cost by the deal I got, plus I don’t take vacations, I don’t own a car, I keep my expenses low (I work out of my home so I don’t need a wardrobe), I live a simple life, and the kitchen is my place to express my creativity. And yes I would still buy the Vitamix if I were to do it all over again. But I saw on http://www.surlatable.com the other day that Breville has a high-powdered blender out for I think $299. I have a couple of Breville products and like their quality. Sur la Table has an amazing return policy with the best customer service.

After I made my purchase, Cooks Illustrated rated non-high speed blenders and gave a recommendation on a KitchenAid that sold last year for about $120.

Raw Food World for the past few years has offered a 10% discount off of appliances the last two weeks in December (17% off of most everything else). Also, twice a year, they discount appliances that people have returned. You can sign up for their mailing list – they send out e-mails a couple of times a week – to see when the sales will be. I got a Breville Kitchen Mill from them for $100 plus shipping (about $10?) that looked brand new and works great.

DISCLAIMER: I am a lifetime Raw Food World benefits member, so I get a little higher discount on most of what I buy from them, but I make nothing for referring anyone to them.

That’s fantastic! I love hearing how others’ experiences were. I made a list of other high-powered or sort of high-powered blenders, and there were more than I thought who at least thought they could compete with Blendtec/Vitamix.

Last time I saw the demo at Costco, I went to buy the dry container for grinding grain. When I told then why I wanted it, they told me not to buy it. The wet container is fine for grinding grain. The dry container is for things like nut butters according to the two sales reps at the demo booth.

I’ve had my Vitamix for about 7 years, and I use it 3-4 times a week minimum. I love it.

I used to have a K-Tec mixer with blender – which is now the Blentec (no mixer). It was so very loud, but did work well. I did go through 3 or 4 carafes and countless mixer shafts before the motor gave out 2 years ago. I then purchased a Bosch mixer with the blender and the rep. I purchased from said the blender on the Bosch would work as well as my old K-Tec. Well, so far so good! It does not produce the “vortex” or “swirl” as well as the K-Tec, but a quick stir with a spatula takes care if it. I also purchased the food processor attachment and love it too. I am VERY happy having one machine that does it all. Katie, would you consider reviewing a Bosch mixer/blender/food processor?

Hi Katie. Do you (or anyone else on this blog) have experience with the Bosch Universal Mixer & Blender? I was given this unit as a gift 20 years’ ago. Together with my grain mill, these pieces transformed my kitchen. The Bosch has 800 watts and the blender out-did any blender I had ever used (and I burned out many a blender prior to the Bosch!). It makes wonderful smoothies and grinds flax and oats very easily (with no pushing or scraping or shaking of the jar). It makes wonderful mayo. I’ve been very pleased. I have a friend with a Vitamix and plan to do some one-on-one contests to compare usage, as the Vitamix and the Bosch are about the same price — but you can do a lot with the Bosch mixer, like mixing/kneading 6 loaves of bread at a time — and much, much more.

Dianna,
Back when I was making bread regularly, I wondered about the Bosch, since Kelly the Kitchen Kop often lauded it. When bread left our house, I put it off my list. But if it can “do it all” that sounds wonderful! Katie

As a dealer for Bosch, I ran into customers who had to go gluten free after purchasing their Bosch. I thought, “Oh now, now their Bosch is worthless to them.” Wrong! The Bosch is wonderful for mixing up a large batch of GF bread or muffins, which then can be frozen (as you may know, GF baking is a messy job and so doing enough to last awhile is a great way to go.) The Bosch is GREAT for mixing up large batches of granola, for multiple recipes of cookie dough (and you can freeze the dough for baking later), for mixing large batches of meat loaf (or vegetarian loaves) to be frozen, for whipping a large amount of potatoes ( a “must” for our family dinners), or for whipping cream for dessert toppings. (Can make “butter” from raw cream in mere minutes.) It has a very powerful food processor attachment — which has a small capacity compared to my Cuisinart….but I have found I use that a lot too, because it is so powerful and efficient (remember, 800 watts). I used my Bosch in myriad ways — all parts of it for our Thanksgiving dinner and am always thinking of ways to use it for everyday tasks. It makes wonderful smoothies and more. Maybe someday we can work something out for you to do a review!

Dianna,
Definitely interested! The food processor I have is only 7 cups; is the Bosch any smaller than that? I need to get into gluten free baking more…I’ve finally purchased most of the flours I need, so it’s time to try some new recipes! Katie

I’m looking forward to part III, as I definitely have no room in my budget for a high-powered blender. We have had two Cuisinart blenders that apparently weren’t intended to handle ice(???) and really didn’t do too well with greens. Since we currently don’t have a blender, and I’m craving green smoothies, I would love to know what your $7 blender is that has worked so well. . . I want it!

Shelly,
Well, I don’t put ice in my smoothies, just frozen fruit, yogurt, and milk. I do use greens, but the trick is to put only the greens and liquid in, then blend for at least a minute before adding anything else. It was $7 because it was secondhand. It’s nothing special! Katie

I have a Bosch blender/mixer set-up. Back in the 70’s I worked at a health resort as a cook and they had both the vitamix and the Bosch. I got the Bosch because I could get the whole set-up for the same price as the vitamix.
I have not had any trouble with frozen fruit..you just have to put it in first and make sure it gets caught on the blade.
It not only kneads bread, but has an attachment to grate or slice, and it will whip a couple egg whites super high.
Sometimes I wish I had a vitamix too but wonder if I am being brainwashed into thinking its the absolute best.
I have had no problems at all with the Bosch, and like it much better than a regular blender.

Hi Katie. I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to let you know that I’ve started a petition at Change.org asking Vitamix to bring back the stainless steel pitcher as an option for those of us who don’t want to blend at high speeds in plastic. As you know, even BPA-free plastic can leach hormone-distrupting chemicals. And those chemicals do their damage at low levels.

Here’s a link to the petition. I’d love if you would sign it and share it. I’ll be making a blog badge for anyone who wants to post it. Thanks, Katie!

I have a Vitamix and there are a lot of misconceptions here. The Vitamix is not designed to come apart or go in the dishwasher! You simply empty it add 4 cups of warm water and 2 drops of dish soap and turn it on variable going from low to high speed then onto high speed. In less than a minute the water is nearly boiling and the container is spotless! You turn it upside down on a dish towel and let it air dry. If needed polish it off with a paper towel. This works even for peanut butter.

You do not need a separate grain container that is only for rich people who care about a few scratches on the inside of their container for everything else!

Peanut butter made with just the nuts takes less than a minute. I use it to make Green Smoothies nut flour, and butter chopping up veggies etc. etc. It is much faster and more powerful than everything but the Blendtec and an Australian product whose name eludes me.

Using it well takes time and practice, but it beats the living daylights out of my food processor for speed and convenience as well as clean up I love it and use it 3 or more times everyday. As to the comment made here about power the Vitamix has 2 HP and the Blendtec 3 HP however the Vitamix has a smaller blade and turns at over 240 Mph so it is actually more powerful.

Since they were the first blender of this grade no-one else can duplicate their jar shape and blade design until patents expire. Hence all of the different, but slightly less effective blenders on the market. They are one of the longest lasting and most durable blenders out there. Blendtec are a close second.

My Squidoo lenses include a review and a few recipes if anyone is interested.

“Overloaded” it said? Very interesting, and admirable, from an engineering point of view. All other overloaded blenders would just continue trying until they burn. So I prefer it to protect itself rather than letting the smoke escape. Looks like the ‘smart’ controls in the Blendtec are for real. The motor controller really knows what is happening in there.

I don’t own any of these yet. However, it looks like the blade of the Blendtec has a wider radius (goes farther from the center). The longer the ‘blade’ the higher the force that the motor has to overcome (torque required to move it). Other reasons for the higher torque are the fact that the ‘blade’ has two vertical prongs that require them to move more material and the fact that the ‘blade’ is not sharp at all. It cannot cut thru the material, but must push and tear them apart. I think that this explain why it needs so a powerful motor. And also, why it is so fast with some tasks.
While reading several reviews around in internet the impression that I get is that, like with most products, you have to learn their way around. Like when you say about using the Juice option instead of the Smoothie one. They are not perfect, but some people can make them work perfect for them.
The think that I dont like is the problem with the jar breaking down. With their 7-year warranty you should be protected, but I think that it is poor engineering design anyway. They should have solved it by this time.
I saw the Blendtec yesterday in a demo at Costco for $299 and with a 8-year warranty. Not a bad price for what it does, if you ask me. Definitively, not within the dishwasher price range.

Interesting that you say the Blendtec will not go in the dishwasher.
I have one and LOVE it.
And it doesn’t have to go in the dishwasher. You just add some water and a few drops of dishsoap and hit the “clean” button.
Sparkling clean in a few seconds !
I actually bought one because my house is gluten free and I wanted to grind grains. BUT not all of my house is gluten free and I sometimes make spelt bread. SOOOOO I got two jars. One is dedicated “gf” while the other one is for spelt/einkorn and I don’t have to worry about cross contamination !

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